


A broken sign, a battered body, and a beautiful woman

by Lavrat



Category: Joker - Fandom, Joker 2019 - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavrat/pseuds/Lavrat
Summary: Arthur Fleck had not lived anything close to a pleasant life. He’d been neglected by the world, abused as a child, and looked down on by all but his mother, who brought her own set of issues to his life. So, when you found him in the alleyway after those disgusting teens broke his sign (and him), he only expected the worst. Another person to torment him, to take away what very little care for this world he had left. Little did he know, you would be his saving grace.





	A broken sign, a battered body, and a beautiful woman

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick fic idea that came to my head, I’m not totally sure where I’m going with it yet and I haven’t written a fic in forever, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!  
Some movie spoilers, likely more to come, so avoid if you don’t want anything spoiled.

Arthur Fleck had not lived anything close to a pleasant life. He’d been neglected by the world, abused as a child, and looked down on by all but his mother, who brought her own set of issues to his life. So, when you found him in the alleyway after those disgusting teens broke his sign (and him), he only expected the worst. Another person to torment him, to take away what very little care for this world he had left. Little did he know, you would be his saving grace.

“Are you alright?” you ask, kneeling next to the man. Already he’s in shock, even an ounce of kindness from a stranger being foreign to him.

Once he opens his eyes and sees you, the look of genuine concern you’re wearing, he begins laughing. Uncontrollably. The fact that you were worried for him coupled with the fact that you were likely the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on was simply too much, and it sent his mind into a frenzy.

You remain kneeling next to him, even more concerned now than before, as he scrambles to reach into his jacket pocket and pulls out a card to give you. Your confusion only rises until you begin reading it, then it all makes sense. He can’t control the laughter.

“It’s okay,” you say, returning the card to him as his laughter begins to quiet, “it’s going to be okay.” You’re not entirely sure what compelled you to say that, you just felt the most pressing urge to help this man. Gotham wasn’t a friendly city to the less than fortunate, that was a fact you knew well, and he seemed to be just as unfortunate as you.

Once he’s able to fully stop laughing, he hesitantly sits up and studies the scene before him. A broken sign, a battered body, and a beautiful girl. One of these things mattered more to him than the rest, and that was what he chose to focus on now.

“Thank you,” he said softly, eyes avoiding you. Despite very much wanting to look at you endlessly, he repressed the urge in fear of immediately scaring off the one person who’d bothered to pay attention to him out of the many who witness the situation.

“I’m sorry they broke your sign,” you begin, reaching a hand out to help him up, “do you need to go to the hospital? Those guys were really rough.”

He shakes his head and reaches for your hand, a moment he’ll never forget. Hell, he probably wouldn’t forget a single second of this entire interaction as long as he lived. Your hand was soft while his was calloused, warm while his was cold. So lost in the sensation of a simple gesture, he nearly forgot to stand up. When he did stand though, he nearly went right back to the ground from the sudden ping of pain that radiated through this body. With a groan, he stood up straight and began to assess the damage his body had taken.

“I’ll take care of everything at home,” he says point blank, not wanting to trouble you or anyone else further by needing to go to the hospital.

“If you’re sure, could I at least come with you, just to make sure that you really are okay? I couldn’t live with myself if you really did need to go to the hospital and I didn’t make you,” you say. That was a half truth, you really would’ve been broken if this man had met his demise due to not getting medical treatment, medical treatment that you could have taken him to receive. However, at the same time, you found yourself entranced by this man and wanted to spend just a little more time with him, who knows, maybe you guys could actually be friends?

The laughter begins again, the pained, torturous laughter, and Arthur raises his hand to stifle it. You were too nice and he just couldn’t comprehend it. You even wait patiently as he has this fit, you don’t flinch, you don’t walk away disgusted.

“You don’t have to... you don’t need to worry about me,” he says, still chuckling a little. He fully expects you to leave right then and there, having done your good deed for the day, ready to wash your hands of him like the scum he was. This wasn’t the case.

“I want to,” you say, not wavering in your decision to ensure he’s alright.

He stares at you for a moment, unable to find words to perfectly encapsulate all that he wants to say to you right now.

“Thank you,” he says, settling on that to sum up how he feels for the time being, and he slowly begins leading the way to his apartment.


End file.
